How to Pair Your Nexus 7 Tablet with a Bluetooth Device

Bluetooth enables you to connect devices, such as a keyboard or printer, to your Nexus 7 wirelessly. To make the Bluetooth connection to your tablet, follow these steps:

Ensure that Bluetooth is on.

Turn on the Bluetooth gizmo or ensure that its Bluetooth radio is on.

Some Bluetooth devices have separate power and Bluetooth switches.

On the Nexus 7, touch the All Apps icon on the Home screen and open the Settings app.

Choose Bluetooth.

You see the Bluetooth screen. Any paired devices appear in the list. If any other Bluetooth devices are available for pairing, they show up as well, but normally you have to either scan for those devices or make them discoverable.

If the other device has an option to become visible, select it.

For example, some Bluetooth gizmos have a tiny button to press that makes the device visible to other Bluetooth gizmos.

The device should appear on the Bluetooth screen. If not, touch the Search For Devices button.

Choose the device.

If necessary, input the device’s passcode or otherwise acknowledge the connection.

Not every device has a passcode. If prompted, acknowledge the passcode on either the Nexus 7 or the other device.

After you acknowledge the passcode (or not), the Bluetooth gizmo and your Nexus 7 are connected and communicating. You can begin using the device.

Connected devices appear in the Bluetooth Settings window, at the bottom, under the heading Paired Devices.

To break the connection, you can either turn off the gizmo or disable the Bluetooth radio on your Nexus 7. Because the devices are paired, when you turn on Bluetooth and reactivate the device, the connection is instantly reestablished.

How you use the device depends on what it does. For example, a Bluetooth keyboard can be used for text input, a computer using Bluetooth can be accessed for sharing files, and a printer can be used for printing documents or pictures.

You can unpair a device by touching its settings button, found on the Bluetooth screen. Choose the Unpair command to break the Bluetooth connection and stop using the device.

Unpair devices that you don’t plan to use again. Otherwise, simply turn off the Bluetooth device when you’re done.